The Grand and not-so-Grand new staircases for the CTA red line station

What’s your choice? Walking up a nice set of granite stairs or up an echoing metal staircase? You couldn’t have more a difference between the two new staircases installed in the Grand red line station.

For the commuters from the north side of Chicago that use the Grand station, you have two options. The nice staircase for the riders in the front of the train. Or the prison staircase for the riders of the rear of the train.

Everytime I walk up the metal staircase for the rear riders, I swear I think I’m in prison. The staircase is all metal. When you get a line of people walking up the stairs, you can hear the metal stairs echo with every step. You end up with this prison staircase effect. It’s like we are walking to our jobs and chained to our desks. What a way to start the morning!

OR you could walk up the nice granite steps for the front-of-the-train riders. No clombing sound of being in prison. Instead it’s nice solid granite. I tell you what, I’ll always walk up these stairs. It makes me wonder if the metal stairs are temporary, because they’ll eventually install an escalator there. I hope so. Otherwise we’ll have half our Grand station commuters continuing to experience their exit out of the station to be not so grand.